Warne started calling Rahane 'Jinks'

The soft-spoken lad smiled and replied: "I would rather talk about the on-field part. Personally speaking, I have learnt a lot from Shane (Warne), but both Rahulbhai and Shane have been equally approachable.

"Interestingly, it was Warne who started calling him Jinks -- a nickname by which he is known in the Indian dressing room.

"I guess he (Warne) found my name Ajinkya too tough to pronounce. So he made it Jinks. But Rahulbhai often calls me Ajju (as he is referred to in Mumbai cricketing circles)."

'My style is to keep things simple'

Lot of players use innovative shots in the shortest format, but Rahane feels he can even score while playing simple cricketing shots.

"Every batsman has his own style. My style is to keep things simple. My idol is Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and they are successful playing proper cricket shots. I have a gameplan and I will stick to it."

For Rahane, Dravid is a role model and, on his own admission, he keeps learning from the legend every day.

"Dravid and Tendulkar are my childhood role models. I look at Rahulbhai and find him to be so humble. He is still such a good student of the game," said Rahane.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has clarified that Rahane is being thought of as a specialist middle-order batsman, but the talented right-hander refused to provide his opinion on the issue.

"I would rather not think about all these things and focus only on the IPL."